The Message
by CloneChiefFan17
Summary: Obi-wan Kenobi has received an urgent and mysterious message beckoning him to the planet Dantooine. When he arrives, he is greeted by a familiar young woman who leads him to confront his past and lay it to rest.


**A Message**

The rolling grassy hills of Dantooine dipped and rose before Obi-wan Kenobi, like a rough sea frozen in place. The horizon met the expanse in a soft line, the sun just grazing it like a lovers finger, its rays framed by large white clouds. Across the sky, massive, winged, reptilian creatures glided in lazy arcs, moving with the clam wind, rising gently on the updrafts. If Obi-wan remember his galactic xenobiology correctly, the creatures never touched the land, living amongst the clouds, blissfully oblivious to the unseen darkness that shrouded the galaxy. The name of the beasts still escaped Obi-wan though.

Previously, Obi-wan had previously received a short and very specific message that had called him to Dantooine. The message, encoded and impossible to trace, had contained brief instructions to land at the coordinates of an ancient structure, and then to walk north east. Before this, Obi-wan had been on Tatooine, keeping a close eye on a young charge; a duty Kenobi was keen on performing well during his perilous exile. With the Empire spread nearly across the entire galaxy,, a Jedi was unwelcome. But the message, the mysterious message, was too important to go unanswered. He had felt a ripple in the Force; a pulling that told him he had to go to Dantooine. So now, he was there, walking north east, as instructed.

He wasn't sure what he was going to find, and he kept a hand close to his concealed lightsaber, his fears telling him he would need it, but his sense telling him otherwise. The message had been the simple instructions, and one line: _"The soldier wants to see you."_

For the past few kilometers, Obi-wan had been contemplating on who could have sent him the message. He had known many soldiers over his life time; some good friends, others terrible enemies. He couldn't puzzle out who it could be, or who had figured out how to find him.

As he continued to walk, he churned these questions over in his head. As he crested another larger hill, he saw a lone speeder with a young woman leaning against it. She was twiddling a piece of grass between her fingers, her gaze far off in the other direction. As Obi-wan approached, he saw that she was gazing a a small heard of horned, furred creatures that were grazing nearby. He could sense hesitation in the woman and felt weariness crawl over his skin. She was worried about something important.

For a moment, the woman glanced Obi-wan's way, before quickly returning her attention to the herd. She did a double take once again, before jogging up to Kenobi, slowing several yards away from him, a weary looking coming to her face.

"You got my message?" she asked.

Obi-wan could sense no ill will from the young woman. He didn't recognize her, but the Force told him that something different. Through the Force, the young woman felt familiar. "I did receive a message," he said. "Very brief, telling me to come here."

"Where did you land?"

"Near ruins that are south west of here."

A look of amazement slowly came to her features, and tears nearly fell from her eyes. "You need to come with me," she said, voice cracking slightly. "Right now."

"Can you tell me why that is?" Obi-wan replied with some hesitance. "You don't look like the person I thought would have sent it."

She raised a thin eyebrow. "Who did you imagine?"

"Someone… broken."

Obi-wan looked the woman over for a moment. She was unscathed by fighting, and probably around sixteen years old. Though familiar through the Force, he didn't sense the dark stain of war on her yet. It was unusually refreshing.

The woman sighed, though it was barely audible. "I sent the message on behalf of my father. You could call him broken." For a moment, a clear sense of love and pain crossed through her. She stepped forward, straitening slightly. "My name is Lyreca. And youre General Obi-wan Kenobi; Gneral of the 212th clone battalion during the Clone Wars."

Obi-wan eyed her wearily.

As if sense his own hesitation, Lyreca continued. "My father told me all about you. He told me everything that happened during the Clone Wars, how it ended.

"Who is your father?" Obi-wan asked.

"CT: 2224, clone Commander Cody."

Obi-wan hadn't heard the name in years. The last time had been on Utapau, when there was a glimmer of hope in those terrible Clone Wars; where Obi-wan had greeted Cody as a friend, before Cody was ordered to open fire on him. It had been almost eighteen years since that had happened, which was the equivalent of 32 years to the clones of the Grand Army of the Republic. Obi=wan had been under the impression that Cody had been killed after Utapua after one of the transports had been shot down during the evacuation. During his escaped from the planet, he ahd seen the incident transpire. It hadn't occurred to him that Cody could have survived.

For a brief moment, Obi-wan was awash with grief and anger. The clones had turned on the Jedi; Cody had turned on him. Obi-wan was filled with outrage to think that his Commander wanted to see him, after ordering guns on him. But quickly, his composure returned. Though in exile, Kenobi was still a Jedi; that was a fact that he could not turn away from. It was a part of his identity, his life, and he wouldn't allow the Dark Side to take him, no matter what happed. Anger had no part in a Jedi's soul, exiled or not.

Obi-wan took a breath, centering himself as he looked at the young woman. He found it difficult to believe that this woman was Cody's daughter. But as he stood in her company, he could see the resemblance. Her skin tone, height, eye color, hair, was all reminiscent of every clone that Obi-wan had commanded during the war. Her face was round; her figure strong and slim. Her overall stature gave her the air of someone who was capable and athletic. Yet for all the similarities, it was the eyes that caught Obi-wan the most. He could see the same sense of maturity and loyalty that he had seen in Cody's eyes long ago. It was evident that their eyes had seen so much more than they should have.

"Where is Cody?" Obi-wan asked.

Lyreca gestured toward the speeder. "I'll take you to him."

"Why does he want to see me?"

"He's sick," Lyreca said. "A deadly strain of retro virus from the Outer Rim Territories. "The medical droids haven't found any way to help him. I was afraid that you would get here after…" She dared not finish her sentence. She silently, dutifully, climbed on to the speeder, and Kenobi sat behind her. Within a moment the speeder was active and they began moving rapidly across the grassy hills.

They were silent during the trip. The hills were rather uniform, making every 'klick they covered look like the same they had just went over, making Kenobi feel almost like they had made no progress at all, but they moved swiftly.

Obi-wan saw a few more herds of the unknown creatures. Lyreca was cautious of them, giving them a wide berth. Aside from those creatures though, the ride was dull and uneventful. It wasn't until Obi-wan saw a house in the distance that he realized he had seen no other buildings. Dantooine had been inhabited in times past, sometimes heavily, but it was renowned for being desolate, despite the lush grasses. Some would almost think of it as a desert.

Lyreca stopped the speeder several meters from the house, though Obi-wan questioned if that was a suitable term for it. The structure was rather large, with several obvious sections to it. The section they had pulled up in front of was a low structure, with harshly square protrusions and a dim, wind stricken color to it. Two windows and a single door were in front of them. Off to the right was a freestanding structure that was almost like a shed, with wide doors of rusted metal. To the left, the mains structure continued into an L shape. Behind all of this was a large, three story tank that Obi-wan assumed held water.

"Come on," Lyreca said, heading to the door.

"What is this place?" Obi-wan asked. "It almost looks like a factory building."

"Dantoonie might be lush in grass but there isn't much else here," Lyreca said, hesitating by the door. "We have to maintain our own food and supplies because trade is so limited. Besides, it's safer that way." Lyreca keyed the door and it open swiftly, but with a groan of protest.

As Obi-wan entered, he reached out with the Force for the presence of his former Commander. At first, he was overwhelmed by grief. It permeated the very essence of the room he entered. A few chairs and a sofa were scattered about, but it was a large empty room, the colors just a bit brighter than the muted exterior. Across the large room were three doors, two already opened that led into wide hallways. The house certainly was big, and the grief felt like it was crawling from the cracks.

Lyreca led him through one of the opened doors, down the large hallway, one side lined with doors, the other, dull and sandy looking. Obi-wan continued to reach out with the Force, feeling his way through the space like a blind man groping to get a sense of his surroundings. His commander was there, but his presence was darkened.

Around the bend of the large hall, a group of people stood by an open door. They turned at the approach of Lyreca. They regarded Obi-wan with caution, but looked at Lyreca with concern and sorrow. They began speaking to her in a tongue Obi-wan didn't recognize, and then withdrew when Lyreca replied, her tone harsh.

Lyreca beckoned for Obi-wan to follow her through the door. The room was very similar to the rest of the houses motif. Furniture was scattered throughout, and the walls were worn and sandy. Next to the bed, which was set by the far wall was a table with a helmet on it.

Two boys, about 18, stood to one side of the bed, and watched Lyreca and Kenobi enter. They were identical, and no doubt siblings of Lyreca. On the other side of the bed, sitting in a chair, was a women in her mid-forties holding the hand of Commander Cody, who lay in the bed, the blankets pulled up to his chest.

Obi-wan was stunned for a moment by his commander. His hair was white, his skin, pale and blotched by old age. The telltale wrinkles of time were beginning to frame his face. Cody's eyes met Obi-wan's, and a sad, small smile came to his face. His eyes were blood shot and weary. In them Obi=wan could see a lifetime of pain reflecting back at him. It was hard for Obi-wan to bear. He was almost overwhelmed at his own grief, looking at a man who should have had more of a life then lying in a bed like this. Cody was only 31, but his body had betrayed him. His body was 63 and ravaged by whatever disease ailed him. It was evident that he had lost a lot of weight; his upper torso and cheeks were bony outlines.

For a moment, as Obi-wan had entered the room, a sense of urgency had hit him; a sense of danger and anger swept over him again. He had laid hand upon his lightsaber, hidden beneath his robes in case he needed to defend himself. Now, looking at the Commander, a man he had considered a dear friend, he was ashamed at his reaction. Cody didn't even look strong enough to sit up.

"General," Cody said, his voice ragged, broken by age; by the shouting of a thousand orders, strained by sickness. "I didn't…"

"I brought him here Father," Lyreca said, coming to his side, standing behind the women who held tightly to Cody's hand. Lyreca placed her hand upon both of theirs. "I knew you wanted to see him."

Cody smiled up at her with a love Obi-wan had never seen before on the Commanders face. With effort, Cody grasped the hands of his wife and daughter in his. "Please, a moment," he said. He then looked to the boys. "All of you."

Cody's wife, tears staining her face, stood and leaned over the commander. She kissed his forehead. "I love you, darling."

"I love you, too. All of you," Cody responded, letting her fingers slip through his.

The group left the room, leaving Obi-wan standing at the foot of the bed. A deep awkwardness fell over them. Obi-wan glanced around the room again in an effort to escape it. The room was certainly quaint. Only a few holo pictures decorated the walls and some of the shelving. Medical supplies and machinery were on one side of the bed. All were either spent or deactivated. Finally, Obi-wan's eyes settled on the helmet again. It bore scars from countless battles; it's once distinctive orange markings had become no more than a whisper of what the helmet had once been. It felt as if a ghoul were sitting in the corner, lurking nearby, waiting for a chance to strike at them, but too weak to do so.

"I can barely stand to look at it," Cody said, noting Obi-wan's prolong stare at the piece of armor. "I did many horrible things. The worst of all… gunning down one of my best friends."

Cody had averted his eyes for a moment. Obi-wan went and sat in the chair next to the bed. "I knew you weren't dead though," Cody said. He grinned slightly. "Somehow, I knew. I always glad that I did." Suddenly, Cody's eyes glistened. "I'm sorry General. I couldn't… I couldn't stop myself."

"What happened Cody?" Obi-wan asked. "What happened after Utapu? How did you end up here?"

"We were pulled off the planet after you were proclaimed dead. Our orders were to reinforce the 501st on Coruscant that…" he trailed off for a moment. "That stormed the Temple. The losses were heavy." Cody stared at the bed room wall for several moments, his faced twisted in silent agony.

"You were there?"

Cody nodded slightly, his voice a barely audible 'yes.' Obi-wan swallowed, unable to look at him for a moment.

"I… I got there later. After the fighting. I couldn't… couldn't," Cody's voiced trailed off into a pained fit of coughing. "I couldn't do anything! I couldn't stop myself!"

Obi-wan was overwhelmed by Cody's emotion. He blinked back tears, and Obi-wan could sense the true depth of his emotion. The unshed tears were not born purely of sadness; they were born of the rage and sorrow of having your freewill stripped from you. Obi-wan realized just then the type of pain Cody had been carrying for all these years. He reached out and gently placed a hand on Cody's shoulder, hoping the Commander would feel his presence, his sympathy, for he couldn't voice it.

After a time, Cody took a few shuttering breaths, and wiped a few hard shed tears with a bony hand from his eyes. He looked worse, his energy being sapped by the pain that had been carried for years. His eyes had grown puffy and his breathing was raspy.

"Cody," Obi-wan said softly.

The Commander finally looked up at him, a sudden weight appeared to have lifted off of his shoulders, though the nameless disease was ebbing away at his life.

"How did you leave…. Desert the army?" Obi-wan asked.

Cody coughed. "Rex, Wolfe, they came back for me." Cody coughed again, for several moments. Obi-wan placed on hand on his writhing arm. When Cody settled, he swallowed hard. "I couldn't go with them. Not after what I had done." He half grinned. "I was glad they got me out, but I couldn't face them."

The two were silent for again. Obi-wan hadn't considered that other clones could have deserted, but he was relieved to learn that some had managed to do so.

"I'm sorry General," Cody said. "I'm so sorry."

Obi-wan gripped Cody's arm. "You don't have to forgive me. But will you do something for me."

Obi-wan simply nodded. "My helmet. Take it, destroy it. Please."

"Why?"

"That helmet. I did terrible things with that helmet. I don't want it to be here, as a burden for my family." Cody coughed again.

Obi-wan looked at the helmet again. He could recall the times when he looked for that helmet, that visor. How it was a reassurance on those battle fields that his friend had his back.

"That helmet doesn't define you Cody," Obi-wan said, looking back to his friend, who lay still, his eyes staring distantly to the space beyond Obi-wan's imagination. Obi-wan felt Cody's presence vanish in the Force, gone from the galaxy. He swallowed hard. He placed a hand on Cody's forehead, and gently closed his eyes.

"I forgive you, my friend."

For a time, Obi-wan grieved net to Cody's body. The pain at the loss of his friend just as tangible as the first time he had lost him. Eventually, Obi-wan stood, looked around the room one more time, and his eyes settled on the helmet. He took it and left the room.

That evening, Obi-wan gave the helmet to the family, thinking it only appropriate that they, those Cody had taken into his life, should really be the ones to deal with the remnants of the Commander's past. The next evening Obi-wan helped assemble part of the pyre, and lay Cody's body on top.

In the graying dusk, as the wind died down, and stars began to shimmer in the dome above, the family stood by as Cody was laid to rest. As the flames spread across the pyre, and his body, dressed in a simple suit, the surroundings seemed dimmed; sadden by their own grief.

Obi-wan stood slightly apart from the family, his arms hugging his chest, keeping his cloak near him. He wanted silently wished that this whole episode had played differently. That he would have been able to meet Cody again as a friend sometime before. Sometimes he didn't understand the will of the Force. He found it unfair and deeming, but he had to trust in the Force. It was the Jedi way.

The pyre began to break as the flames ate at the wood. As the cracks began to form, Obi-wan noticed a scared, metallic shape beneath Cody. He caught his breath as part of the pyre foundation gave way, just enough to show through a gap to the structure within, and the helmet beneath, cracked and burned by fire, the smoke billowing from beneath its seal to form a hazy crown above. A could sensation crawled across his skin, and he grimaced as the flames leeched from the helmet, raking across the Commanders body with no remorse.


End file.
